Notes and Correspondence. 137 



Wilson Creek, and it commands the whole wide sweep of the 

 crest to the north, east, and south, from the peaks at the head of 

 the Stanislaus, down along the sawteeth at the heads of the 

 canons within the park, across to the Sawtooth Range and Mat- 

 terhorn, Dunderberg, Dana, Conness, Lyell, Ritter and Banner, 

 and beyond to the south. From it the walls and domes of Yo- 

 semite are visible, the wall of the Grand Canon, Hetch Hetchy, 

 and glimpses of the lowlands in between. I know of no single 

 peak which stands so thoroughly in the middle of things as this 

 Doghead fellow. He will repay anyone for the climb." 



An Early Ascent of Mt. Whitney. 



Mr. Carl Rabe of Oakland made one of the earliest ascents of 

 Mt. Whitney on record. This was on September 25, 1873, when 

 he was attached to the State Geological Survey. He left San 

 Francisco for Owens Valley in company with Mr. Belshaw. They 

 took two sets of instruments and two barometers. The follow- 

 ing extract from an account of his experiences furnished to the 

 editor of the Sierra Club Bulletin is interesting: 



"We went first to Cerro Gordo, where three or four days were 

 spent in comparing the barometers and making preparations for 

 the trip. I then returned to Lone Pine, where I left one of the 

 barometers with R. A. Loomis, who agreed to take half-hourly 

 observations from 10 a. m. till 2 p. m. for three consecutive days, 

 viz., the 6th, 7th, and 8th of September, respectively, at Lone 

 Pine. On the morning of the 4th of September I started for 

 Mt. Whitney, accompanied by W. L. Hunter, William Crapa, and 

 Mr. McDonnell, all of them from Cerro Gordo. 



"We followed from Lone Pine the Hockett trail up the steep 

 and often precipitous slopes of the eastern front of the Sierra ; 

 across the summit of Long Valley we left the trail, and turning 

 northerly over a hilly region covered with loose granitic sand 

 and boulders, we found ourselves, after a few miles travel, in 

 the bottom of the deep canon of a branch of the Kern River, 

 which heads at the southwestern base of the peak that has been 

 so long mistaken for Mt. Whitney, viz., Sheep Mountain. We 

 were obliged to travel down this cafion southwesterly for several 

 miles through boggy meadows, thickets of willow, and among 

 fallen trees and large boulders, before we could find a place to 

 climb out of it on the northern side. Judging from the masses 

 of debris which are scattered about, the snowslides here would 

 appear to have been frequent and heavy. We at length succeeded 

 in getting out of the canon and making our way for a few miles 

 further over the rugged country to the north. 



"After about twenty miles' travel from Long Valley, involv- 

 ing a very hard day's work for our animals, we camped the 



